New Hampshire and Maine

New Hampshire, famous for its ridiculous state slogan “Live Free or Die”, had some very beautiful country roads that I found by accident after having taken a wrong turn with the car. I drove slowly through these roads, admiring every little apple-farm and artist’s residence along the way. In the afternoon I arrived in Portsmouth – a pretty seaside town. After buying some CDs to play in the car (Frank Black and some ska music), I drove North to York where I spent a lonely night in a motel.

The following day I drove North, stopping at posh seaside towns like Kennebunk where the Bush family are regular visitors. In the afternoon I arrived in Portland, Maine. This town is an attractive, young, liberal, arty enclave situated on a narrow peninsula with water on three sides. I visited an old observatory where I got a very good view. I spent the night further North at the massive house of George and Connie Beasley - a retired diplomat couple who are friends with Roland and Marianne.

The next day I made a trip to the Acadia National Park.

The park itself was nice, although I would find even more spectacular environments later on my trip. I took a little hike, had picnic, swam in a lake and at sunset I drove up to Cadillac Mountain where I was greeted by a magnificent view.

Driving back to the Beasleys, I kept myself awake with the nasty rants of Fox News Radio (their jingle proclaims them being “fair and balanced” but in my opinion they are anything but). It was interesting to be in America at this time with the presidential race in full swing. But it was also quite disturbing to see the amount of backstabbing going on from both sides. TV adverts from the Republicans would portray Obama as a pedophile and a terrorist, and the Democrats would counter with equal doses of scaremongering about McCain. Is it really necessary to partake in such playground tactics to win an election?

I returned to Vermont and the Kuchel’s house through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Although it was too foggy to get a good view of the actual mountains, I was happy to find this pretty creek.

written by  niklasbergstrand on January 16, 2009 from Portland, United States
from the travel blog: Niklas in America
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